Mumbai-based artist Reena Saini Kallat traces human movement and cultural exchange around the world. Woven Chronicle is comprised of an intricate web of handwoven electrical wires that entwine to resemble a chain-link fence. The strands create a map of the world overlaid with migration routes that connect people and commodities while simultaneously contributing to cultural barriers. The work references the active transfer of information and energy that results from the mobility and intersection of travelers, and is further accentuated by an ambient soundtrack that evokes the buzz and reverberations of telecommunications, industry and travel.

In the context of Vancouver’s changing urban and cultural landscapes, Woven Chronicle returns to the very origins of ethnic and cultural diversity. While Canada celebrates a myriad of ethnicities and cultures, issues of discrimination and inequality are still felt among immigrant and resident populations. The porous surface of Kallat’s map reveals proverbial holes in the naïve utopian idea of a unity through diversity, offering a contemplative sketch of the globalized world.

Woven by the artist and assistants from rural villages in India, the map implicates both the artist and the labour of migrant workers who travel to urban centres for economic survival—not only in India, but throughout the world. As a result, the work becomes a complex embroidery of human convergence and its accompanying narratives of connection and conflict.

About the artist Born in 1973 in New Delhi, Reena Saini Kallat was raised in Mumbai, where she is currently based. She graduated from Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1996 with a BFA in painting, but she works with video, sculpture and installation and often incorporates more than one medium into a single artwork. A strong social conscience prevails throughout Kallat’s practice, and it is the message that often dictates the medium she employs. More recently she has been working in the public realm, creating interactive installations that evoke environmental concerns and resonate with a broad international community.

Offsite, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s outdoor exhibition space, was launched in 2009. There have been 11 public artworks commissioned specifically for the site including sculpture, film, ceramic and photo-based installations. Offsite: Reena Saini Kallat is part of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art and is presented in association with the Asian Heritage Month and Indian Summer Festival.

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